DuMars, Berryman vie for Adrian mayor

Sunday

Oct 13, 2013 at 3:00 PM

By John MulcahyDaily Telegram Staff Writer

How to use Adrian’s anticipated oil royalties has caused one of the biggest arguments in the mayoral race between incumbent Mayor Greg DuMars and his opponent, former mayor and state Sen. Jim Berryman.

DuMars, who was first elected mayor two years ago and served on the Adrian City Commission from 2005 to 2011, and Berryman, who was mayor of Adrian from 1983 to 1990 and served in the state Senate from 1991 to 1998, will face each other in the Nov. 5 election.

DuMars voted Oct. 7 with a 5-2 majority of the Adrian City Commission to put the oil royalties in a 15-year trust, with no money to be withdrawn for three years. That trust has been formed and the first $179,000 of oil royalties deposited in it.

“I think this is an opportunity to leave a legacy for the citizens of Adrian to have an endowment available which could ultimately generate a half million dollars a year in interest that could be spent on any number of projects,” DuMars said.

Berryman has filed suit in Lenawee County Circuit Court seeking an injunction to keep the city from placing funds into the trust and asking the court to order the city to have a public hearing on the issue.

“I think it’s very arrogant on the part of the mayor and the commission and the administration to say they know today what’s best for citizens and future commissions down the road," Berryman said.

Future commissions will benefit from the trust, DuMars said.

“Five, six years from now, anyone who’s sitting on the commission then would, I’m sure, be very thankful for that annual payment coming in from the oil and gas revenues,” DuMars said.

Berryman said putting the oil money in a trust damages the chances of passing the proposed Headlee override that also will be on the Nov. 5 ballot. The proposal would restore the city’s millage to 15 mills from the 13.63 mills to which it has been reduced by Headlee rollbacks, an increase of 1.37 mills. The owner of a $70,000 home with a taxable value of $35,000 would pay about $48 more per year if the override passes.

Both DuMars and Berryman support the proposed override, though Berryman differentiates the reasons for his support. In an interview before the commission voted to establish the oil royalties trust, Berryman said a Headlee override would give the city flexibility to maintain essential services if the oil revenues were not as great as anticipated, but that if oil revenues are sufficient, the city might not have to levy the millage.

“That’s the difference between Greg and I,” Berryman said. “He wants to just levy the millage and put the oil and gas money in an irrevocable trust. I disagree with that.”

The trust that was approved is revocable after 15 years.

DuMars said loss of revenue such as $1 million in state shared revenue in the last eight to nine years and approximately $1.5 million in property tax revenue in the last five years has made it necessary to reduce services.

“If the citizens would like to see those services maintained at at least the level they are now, the Headlee override needs to be passed,” DuMars said.

Long-range, DuMars said, the Headlee will not provide sustainable revenue since, under Headlee, the millage could be rolled back again.

DuMars said that a millage increase; an income tax; a voted, 1- or 2-mill designated tax for the Adrian Public Library; or a 1-mill tax for the library that the city commission could approve without a vote of the people are the options for a more sustainable revenue source.

“I think in the next year we’re going to have to do something; otherwise even if the Headlee passes we’re going to be back in the same boat a year and a half, two years from now because that property tax will start to roll back with Headlee,” DuMars said.

Berryman said he is “100 percent against the city income tax” and said if he were elected, there would be a community discussion of what the city ought to look like, what it ought to offer taxpayers and what taxpayers want.

For instance, he said, one of the discussions could be about arts and recreation and could include a discussion of the Croswell Opera House, the Adrian Symphony Orchestra, the library, and service clubs and nonprofits, as well as the general public.

“I think we can solve some of those problems if we start with those groups, if we start with the base and have them suggest to the city, this is what we’d like to see and this is what we’re willing to pay for,” Berryman said.

DuMars cited 12 downtown buildings that recently sold, four restaurants that have opened downtown in the past two years, and Adrian’s being in the top three sites considered for a couple factories as evidence of economic development. The city remains in the running for a factory that could bring 800 jobs, he said.

Berryman said the city should “embrace who we are,” and “that is a college town.” He cited the building projects and enrollment growth at Adrian College and Siena Heights University.

“Instead of going to our colleges and saying, ‘What do you need?’ the city continues to throw up roadblocks,” Berryman said.

He also would open up the city’s water system to residents of surrounding townships and allow them to buy city water at the same prices residents pay, Berryman said.

Berryman said the difference between him and DuMars is “leadership.” He criticized DuMars as having a top-down approach, and called the months-long battle over the city’s sign ordinance an “embarrassment.”

“That’s the mayor’s responsibility,” Berryman said. “The mayor could have and should have sat down and said, ‘All right, how do we work this out?’ ”

Asked about the difference between him and Berryman, DuMars cited his community involvement, including serving on 12 nonprofit boards and having been chairman of two of them.

“I think I’ve demonstrated my dedication and commitment to the community as a result of that service, and I think I’m truthful and honest and have integrity,” DuMars said. “I also have experience in guiding government through making tough decisions in tough financial times.”